IMTA Honored Douglas Sperry at the 2018 IMTA State Conference at Sweetwater Sound with the Distinguished Service Award. This award is a very special award that is given at the discretion of the IMTA State President and presented on rare occasion to recognize outstanding service to IMTA. Former recipients include Jack Eaton (1995), Verna Abe, Carolyn Hertzler, and Karen Thickstun (2002), Juliana Lockman (2005), and Margaret Roby (2014).

Doug Sperry receiving the Distinguished Service Award from IMTA President Amy Chaplin

Doug has been teaching private piano lessons since he was 15 years old. The only significant break he has taken from independent teaching was during the past year when he was undergoing aggressive treatment for cancer. His music degrees are a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Nebraska Wesleyan University, a Master of Music in piano performance from Michigan State University, and all the work except dissertation for a Ph.D. in Theory, Music History, and Piano, also from Michigan State University.

The beginning of his college teaching career in music was interrupted by the birth of his first child, Ethan, and a subsequent commitment to be the primary caregiver for his children (Emma was born seven years later). During these years while continuing to teach piano he also completed a Masters degree in Psychology at Catholic University. With the move to Terre Haute, he taught psychology courses at ISU and conducted research with his wife, Linda, who is also a psychologist on the faculty there. Later, at the age of 50 (when Emma headed off to college) he started his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Illinois. While there he was a National Scholar Foundation recipient and was hired to teach at St. Mary of the Woods College outside Terre Haute.

Doug is currently a tenured Associate Professor at St. Mary’s where he also plays the organ for school ceremonies! With the return of his health, he has been able to return to piano teaching. Through all the years of leading this “double” life as a pianist and psychologist, he has guided countless piano students in their studies and in their “growing up”. He has also been generous to colleagues with fulfilling leadership positions in the Wabash Valley Music Teachers Association (ten years as its president) and with his countless hours of administrations at the state level for the AIM auditions program.

Previous Distinguished Award Winners, from left to right: Karen Thickstun (2002), Douglas Sperry (2018), Juliana Lockman (2005), Margy Roby (2014).

The 2018 State Conference planning committee would like to invite you to nominate talented young pianists to perform in this year’s IMTA Conference masterclasses with Christopher Fisher (Elementary/Intermediate) and Frederic Chiu (Advanced). This year’s state conference will take place October 5-6 at Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne, IN. Both masterclasses will be held in Sweetwater Sound’s beautiful Performance Theatre. The masterclass for elementary and intermediate pianists will take place at 3:10 pm on Friday, October 5 and the masterclass for advanced pianists will take place at 9:15 am on Saturday, October 6.

The deadline for receipt of application is Saturday, September 15. No extensions or exceptions are possible. This is an exceptional opportunity! If selected, you and your student will be notified by Saturday, September 22.

To submit an application for the Masterclass, please click here or on the link below.

Call for Masterclass Performers

IMTA is pleased to announce we will be hosting Dr. Christopher and Katherine Fisher as our clinicians for the upcoming IMTA state conference to be held at Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne on October, 5, 6. Details will continue to be made available on the conference page. Online registration for the conference will be open no later than August 1 here on the IMTA website.

Dr. Christopher Fisher is Professor of Piano at Ohio University School of Music in Athens, Ohio where he chairs the Keyboard Division, directs the graduate piano performance and pedagogy programs, and coordinates the Ohio University Piano Pedagogy Seminar. He is Director of Studies for the Honors Tutorial College Music Program. Recognized for his teaching, Dr. Fisher was the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year and the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.

Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups (Oxford University Press, 2010) and co-author of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016). He has published in leading keyboard journals and is a contributing composer for the innovative piano method, Piano Safari (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano teachers and students around the globe. His educational compositions are published by Alfred Music and Piano Safari.

In demand as a workshop and master class clinician, Dr. Fisher has presented lectures internationally, including the national conferences of the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum, the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference, and the Encontro Internacional de Pianistas de Piracicaba Brasil. Dr. Fisher has also served as a guest lecturer at leading conservatories and universities including recent engagements at The Juilliard School.

Katherine Fisher is co-author of the Piano Safari Method (www.pianosafari.com) for children. She and Dr. Julie Knerr have been working on their piano method since their time in school together at the University of Oklahoma when they both realized they had mutual dreams of writing a piano method that would incorporate all the best elements of the various methods they had been using in their teaching.

She is an affiliate faculty member of the Athens Community Music School at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.  Her responsibilities include teaching private piano lessons as well as coordinating the Piano Preparatory Program (group lessons) for children who are beginners at the instrument.

Katherine is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association and presently serves as the Wellness Forum Chair for the Ohio Music Teachers Association. She presently serves in the capacity of Vice-President for Membership for the Southeast District of OhioMTA.

A native of Ohio, Katherine obtained her degrees from the University of Oklahoma (Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy) and the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance).  Her former teachers include Jeongwon Ham, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Karin R. Edwards, and Nancy Bachus.